mike carey

I must find my copy and read it now I know it's a western! Yes, I do know what it is really about. An excellent Twitter thread, including tweeps earnestly saying 'This is not what it's about' and the OP making equally earnest dead-pan replies: https://twitter.com/dagger0621/status/1548007891373678593?s=20&t=e8TOa58E0l7pkpUnbu7L4Q

I could not possibly comment on which of these two important issues I was referring to!

One rather significant event seems to be missing from the headline historical events list.

It was, after Albania's departure from the pact in 1968. They broke with China when China abandoned Marxism-Leninism and was no longer communist. That says more about Albania at that time than it does about China! We should perhaps leave it at that and not continue this strand of conversation!

Oh, I don't know. I'm sure there would be some occasions. I mean for the feather boa, of course.

What they said was that repeated vaccinations at short intervals do not represent a viable long term approach. They also said that boosters raise the level of protection above what was achieved in the initial course of vaccination. Of course, they were talking in January when the predominant variant was Delta and the Omicron wave was just starting in the EU. The Lancet page you cite said that Israel had very little evidence of the effect a fourth dose would have, not that it didn't appear to do any good. At that stage, also in January, they had only just approved fourth doses so what they said was not based on analysing the results of those doses being administered.

I didn't say melanin was a factor in higher death rates and it is not, at least not directly. What I said was that melanin causes a diagnostic device to provide an incorrect reading of a significant symptom of the effect the disease is having on a patient's body, potentially leading to the failure to provide a simple treatment to correct that effect. Put simply, if you are black and have low blood oxygen levels a pulse oximeter is likely to give a false 'normal' reading and you are less likely to be given the treatment you need.

For me, the question is what the benefit is to the provider. As nice as the gesture is, if a client pays more for it than it would cost the provider himself, is it not better to give him the money (either as a tip or specifically as a payment for him to buy his own gold status at a time of his choosing)? Any extra money you pay a provider is either an expression of appreciation or it carries some sort of expectation. It does not carry any obligation unless you have agreed on that.

Ok, I'm sure things like this happens all the time. At the one-day international game between England and India at The Oval in London a player scored a six (hit the ball over the boundary on the full, scoring six runs) but it hit a young girl in the crowd. The England team doctor and physio checked her out and treated her. She and her father, who was there with her, were invited to come back to The Oval for a future game, and she was given an England team t-shirt. I don't know if the publicity was intended but the Sky TV commentary team broadcast what had happened. Assuming she was an England supporter (not a given at a game such as this in the UK) she will have bragging rights at school after summer.

To be slightly pedantic, this forum is about what you cook and what you use to do it, not about prepared food you buy, either at the supermarket or a restaurant. Now, how you would recreate that wonder that you buy, or asking for advice in doing so is a great thing to discuss here. See who the master chefs are here who can help you recreate your dream 'fake milk' ice cream (or whatever else you aim to make)!!! (Not to disparage those substitutes, of course!) (Not to forget that lactose-free dairy milk is also a thing.)

Interesting segment on NPR I heard today, about the small oxygen meters used on patients. It appears that they misread blood oxygen levels for PoC. Pulse oximeters estimate oxygen levels by pulsing light through the skin and measuring the amount of light that is absorbed by the blood. Oxygenation of blood increases the amount of light that is absorbed. An under-recognised problem is that melanin in the skin also absorbs light so the darker a patient's skin the higher oxygenation level the device indicates. A case that prompted this renewed awareness was a medical professional questioning her severely ill son's imminent discharge from hospital on the basis that his oxygen levels were normal. She was aware of a possible discrepancy and pressed the hospital, which ran an invasive oxygen level test that discovered his levels were dangerously low and he was admitted and treated. This is something that is worth being aware of if you have darker skin. It also points to a possible contributing factor in higher death rates in minority communities.

Indeed, down to the dress she wore in the final last year. Ash also identifies as being indigenous.

It's worth noting that a second black woman would win a Wimbledon singles title before Arthur Ashe won his in 1975. Evonne Goolagong won the ladies' singles in 1971.

I read this not so much as mixed gender but rather an event that was inclusive of people who are non-binary and gender-fluid (so it's talking about gender identity not sexuality). (But remaining open to cis and trans men and women who are same- or opposite-sex attracted or bi.) So all gender identities and sexual orientations, as it says on the can.

... Which I suspect is not exactly at the top of the list of languages you 'speak a little of'?

@azdr0710 does 'next level' mean 'second storey'?

Ha, prices have gone up because of reasons. [Here you can't do that. Prices going up? Well, tough shit, that means ya gotta print new ones.]

Some products I brand-buy but many I don't care. Here, Aldi is considerably less expensive than the big chains. Some of their house brands are clearly made by a particular brand name manufacturer and it's obvious which one, and are also clearly the same product, often at two thirds of the price. Other lines are, to judge by the packaging also made by a national brand although which one isn't always clear. Some of their frozen produce is sourced from Europe and is good (assuming you're prepared to stomach frozen veges) and their meat selection is also very good (and at times has innovative marinades and similar partial preparation of the cuts). Usually produce is produce but they also do some good salad kits that are different from those at the other shops. If I did a big shop every [nominate time frame] I would shop at one of the big chains but since I shop at least twice a week and don't buy more than I can carry in one shopping bag, I am more catholic in my choice of shops.

We have fewer options (two major chains plus Aldi and a few independent shops) and the quality is broadly similar so that is not a determinant. There are also butcher's shops, green grocers and bakers to choose from. I (for my sins) receive e-mails from the two big chains with their specials and bonus point offers (the points can be converted to airline miles or cash). I also buy stock that's marked down for being close to its use-by date if I can use it or freeze it. Some prices are up (mainly fresh produce but that always fluctuates) but most of what I buy, not by too much. Also, I don't have to pay too much attention to prices, but I do notice them.

The ABC News Thursday evening satire segment: https://twitter.com/i/status/1545000945373032449

Kyrgios: I don't have a coach, I wouldn't put that burden on anyone. Canberra boy done good!

Shame Ajla Tomljanović bowed out tonight, but I'm enjoying watching Nick Kyrgios in the quarters. I know it sounds shallow (guilty as charged) but I must say Cristian Garín is easy on the eye.

Early twentieth century Antarctic exploration observations: According to Mawson, there is nothing like a steaming hot bowl of porridge in the Antarctic. Mawson remarked that Scott would have survived if only he had eaten oats. Rather dark, however.

I remember travelling in northern Washington and turning on the TV inadvertently to a BC channel. Having lived in the US for almost two years at that stage I almost choked on my dinner when the weather forecast was for 10 degrees the following day. These days I sometimes translate in here, sometimes quote both, and at other times just use Celsius (work it out for yourself) and I don't always specify which scale when I use C. Weather reports here give the temperature just as a number (only C without saying that's the scale used), and I noticed from the cricket coverage from England this week that the same practice applies there. I used to know how many stones and pounds I weighed but now have no idea in anything but kilos (I never had any idea what it was in just pounds), but I know how tall I am in both feet and inches, and in centimetres (or metres and cm). Some measurements I understand in inches, although those inches don't necessarily equate to the ones on a measuring tape. Distances in miles? No idea! For the record today in Canberra it's ranged from 4 this morning to 14 now at lunch time. Now, time to heat some soup for lunch!